Raila Odinga's Orange Democratic Movement party has yet again praised President Uhuru Kenyatta following his decision not to field a candidate both in Embakasi South and Ugenya constituencies for Friday's by-elections.
David Ochieng' of MDG defeated ODM's Chris Karan in Ugenya while Julius Mawathe of Wiper party beat Irshad Sumra of ODM in Embakasi South constituency. The results went against ODM's wishes.
But Director of Elections Junet Mohammed hailed Uhuru's decision even after Deputy President William Ruto appeared to have celebrated ODM's loss in the two elections.
"We thank the Jubilee Party Leader, H.E. President Uhuru Kenyatta who, in the spirit of the Handshake, asked his party to pull out of the Ugenya and Embakasi South by-elections. That decision made the by-elections a friendly contest between familiar allies and parties," Junet said in a statement.
According to him, the decision by Uhuru to pull out of the polls, reduced toxic politics which could have led to voters making different choices from Friday's turnout of events.
"In the two contests, the people have spoken in favour of politics of accommodation, tolerance, reason and embrace of each other and the wider national agenda. We applaud this.It is line with our policy as a Party, and one we intend to carry forward in line with the provisions of the MoU between H.E. Raila Odinga and H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta signed on March 9, 2018," he added.
Orange Democratic Movement party has however resolved to go back to drawing board and dissect the outcome in both constituencies to 'see what could be done differently from the just concluded polls'.
"The Party will certainly review its performance in the two by-elections with a view to establishing what could have been done differently," said Mr Mohammed, who also doubles as Suna East MP.
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